Actor Noel Johansen is mourning the loss of his wife, Jenifer Darbellay, who was among those killed in last weekend’s deadly car ramming attack in Vancouver, Canada.
Darbellay, 50, was an artist and costume designer who worked on a variety of Canadian television and theater productions. She and her husband were attending Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day festival, celebrating Filipino culture with their 15-year-old son, Ford, and 7-year-old daughter, Darby, last Saturday, when a black Audi SUV tore through the crowd, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens more.
Johansen and Darby were both injured in the attack. The actor appeared on crutches Monday as he delivered an emotional tribute to his late wife at a Vancouver vigil honoring the victims.
“What you see here is an injury that means nothing to me because what’s inside my heart is broken,” he told the crowd, as seen in CBC’s footage of the vigil. “She never celebrated herself in her life. She never thought of herself; she thought of herself as small in terms of the reach.”
“And I can tell you she was larger than life for any of you who know her,” he continued. “So don’t be small in life, be big, reach out and reach out as a human being with everything you have, and please remember us who went through this.”
Johansen’s friend Michael Daingerfield Hall echoed those sentiments, describing Darbellay as “an incredibly thoughtful, warm, caring, smart, stylish, artistic woman” on a GoFundMe page in support of her grieving family.
A Montreal native, Johansen now splits his time between Vancouver and Los Angeles. He’s best known to viewers for his performances in “Harvest Love” and “Home for Christmas Day,” among other Hallmark Channel films. He had a starring role in the ABC series “Somewhere Between” and has also appeared on “Fargo” and “The Good Doctor.”
Suspect Kai-Ji Adam Lo was arrested Saturday after being apprehended at the scene of the attack and charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, with additional charges possible.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai told Canada’s National Post that Lo had a “significant history of interactions with police and health-care professionals related to mental health,” and that the attack was not being treated as terrorism.
Watch Johansen’s remarks on his late wife below.
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